2017 Forum Programme

Check out the programme for the 10th Canada’s History Forum “Making History Relevant” on November 21, 2017 at the Canadian Museum of History.

Hosted in collaboration with the National Council on Public History and with the generous support of the Government of Canada and the Canadian Museum of History

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November 13, 2017

10:00 AM Opening Remarks and Welcome

Master of Ceremonies: Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail specializes in telling hidden histories for audiences of all ages. She is the former Historian Laureate of Edmonton, an occasional CBC radio columnist, and the author of several books of adult nonfiction. Danielle edited the bestselling collection In This Together: Fifteen Stories of Truth and Reconciliation and her first picture book, Alis the Aviator: the ABCs of Flight, comes out with Tundra Books in Fall 2018. At the moment, she is working on a memoir/detective story/history about the Charles Camsell Indian Hospital in Edmonton. Metcalfe-Chenail currently hangs her hat in Houston, Texas.

10:30 AM On the Values of History

Tim Grove is co-founder of the History Relevance Campaign formed in 2012 to raise the profile of history at the national level. He has worked as a public historian at some of the most visited history institutions in the United States and is currently Chief of Museum Learning at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Grove originated and wrote the History Bytes technology column in History News for thirteen years, co-authored the Museum Educator’s Manual, and authored a memoir, A Grizzly in the Mail and Other Adventures in American History, and two children’s books. In 2008, he received the Smithsonian Education Achievement award. This presentation will be in English.

10:50 AM Making the Case for History

In this panel speakers will share reflects on their work and recent experiences and discuss why history is relevant to the public.

Jean-Pierre Morin is the staff historian for Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC). He specializes in the history of Treaties between the Government and Indigenous peoples as well as the history of government policy and administration of INAC. In recent years, he has worked at developing new historical learning tools for federal public servants, web content and digital media, and national commemoration initiatives such as the bicentennial of the War of 1812 and Canada150. Since 2015, Morin has also been an Adjunct Research Professor for Public History in the History Department at Carleton University. This presentation will be in both French and English.

Andrea Eidinger is the creator and editor behind the popular blog, Unwritten Histories, where she produces original blog posts and curated lists on the study and practice of Canadian history. She holds a PhD in History from the University of Victoria and, since 2010, has worked as a sessional instructor on Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland of British Columbia. Her research focuses on intersections of gender, ethnicity, religion, and domesticity in postwar Canada. Eidinger lives and works in the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Coast Salish peoples. This presentation will be in English.

Jan Grabowski is a Professor of History of the Holocaust at the University of Ottawa. He has been an invited professor at universities in France, Israel, Poland, and the United States. In 2011, Grabowski was appointed the Baron Friedrich Carl von Oppenheim Chair for the Study of Racism, Antisemitism, and the Holocaust at Yad Vashem, Jerusalem, Israel. He has authored and edited fifteen books and published more than sixty articles in English, French, Polish, German, and Hebrew. Grabowski’s most recent book: Hunt for the Jews. Betrayal and Murder in German-Occupied Poland has been awarded the Yad Vashem International Book Prize for 2014. This presentation will be in French.

12:00 PM Lunch Break

1:00 PM Making the Case for History Education

In this panel speakers will discuss how history education is changing in the classroom and in museums, and why these changes are essential now and for future understandings of history.

Dominique Trudeau’s career began in the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, where she held several positions within the Education Department, and where she implemented innovative activities for families and school groups. In 2007, she worked at the Musée des Hospitalières de l’Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal, where she developed, among other programs, a volunteer program that put together adolescent-volunteers with hospital patients. Since 2012, she has been the Head of Education Programs at the McCord Museum in Montreal, where she and her team develop programs that bring a new perspective to history, and that favour learning that fosters curiosity and social connection. Activities “outside the walls” that engage with the community are also among her priorities. After all, history is taking shape in the city every day. This presentation will be in French.

Lindsay Gibson is an Assistant Professor of Social Studies Education in the Department of Elementary Education at the University of Alberta. For twelve years he taught secondary history and social studies and worked as a curriculum consultant in School District No. 23 (Kelowna, British Columbia). Gibson has worked with the Historical Th inking Project since 2008 and organized the 2016 and 2017 Historical Th inking Summer Institutes. Gibson also works with Th e Critical Th inking Consortium (TC2) on a variety of history education projects, and is currently working on the writing teams for the new K-12 social studies curriculum being developed in B.C. and Alberta. This presentation will be in English.

2:10 PM Project Showcase

This panel will feature two projects that have received 2017 Governor General’s History Awards. Presenters will discuss their their projects, emphasizing the role of community relationships, and discuss best practices both for education and museum fields.

Saskatchewan teachers Naomi Sara Fortier-Fréçon (Regina Public Schools) and Leia Laing (Conseil des écoles fransaskoises) are interested in the development of anti-oppressive and social justice teaching strategies that encourage students to develop a better understanding of the issues related to Indigenous culture and traditions. Naomi and Leia achieve this by encouraging their students’ linguistic development through interdisciplinary activities (French, visual art, music, humanities) adapted to their ages in accordance with the expectations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action. This presentation will be in French.

Calvin Racette is Métis from the Qu’Appelle Valley in southern Saskatchewan. He recently retired after a thirty-four-year career in education. He served many roles during his career, the majority of which focused on Indigenous education. Calvin is recognized as a local historian and has many publications to his name. He most recently co-authored a K-8 compilation of fifty-four children’s books on treaty education. This presentation will be in English.

Tracy Calogheros has served as the CEO for the Exploration Place,
Museum + Science Centre in Prince George, British Columbia, for nearly
twenty-four years. Presently, Calogheros serves as the Vice Chair of the
Canadian Association of Science Centres. Ms. Calogheros’ work with the
Lheidli T’enneh Nation has resulted in an expanded collection, a new
permanent gallery, Hodul’eh-a: A Place of Learning, and an MOU between
the Museum and the Nation to act as their repository while working together
towards program development and repatriation of artifacts from around the
globe. This presentation will be in English.

Alyssa Tobin is the Curator at The Exploration Place in Prince George, British Columbia. A graduate of Simon Fraser University, her educational focus has been in Archaeology, Conservation, and First Nations Studies. She has spent several years both in the field, working as an archaeologist and in the Curatorial Department at The Exploration Place. She is passionate about the human history of the Northern Region of B.C., loves the outdoors and is always eager to deepen her understanding of the history of the place she calls home. This presentation will be in English.

In this presentation Lawrence Hill speaks about his experiences telling women's stories. Lawrence Hill is the recipient of the 2015 Governor General’s History Award for Popular Media – The Pierre Berton Award.